IE-Annual-Report-2023

The .ie Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure explained The Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure for .ie includes a network of nameserver locations around the globe, illustrated in Chart 1 below. The lookup or resolution service for .ie domain queries is performed at all nameserver locations. During 2023 over 130 billion DNS queries were answered by the .ie nameservers. A critical component of this nameserver infrastructure is the use of ‘Anycast’ load balancing technology provided to us by the secondary nameserver service providers. This ‘Anycast’ facility protects against a Denial of Service attack (DDoS attack) by allowing the geographical distribution of .ie domain lookup requests to any available DNS resolver for redundancy. This effectively localises the potential adverse effects of the DDoS attack, by preventing it spreading across the entire network. For the .ie namespace, this means increased system efficiency, faster response times, reduced potential for outages, and increased resilience against deliberate or malicious attacks. It is important to note that even if our physical locations, staff and primary nameserver were wiped out (an unlikely scenario) and no action was taken to invoke emergency plans (an even more unlikely scenario), then service to .ie domains would continue for a minimum of 30 days without any intervention. Obviously, new registrations, changes and deletions would not take place but crucially, existing domain holders’ websites and email would continue to function normally during this time, using the secondary nameserver locations around the world. Chart 1: Security, stability and resilience of the .ie global nameserver network 10 13 10 1 1 1 2 5 3 1 1 5 6 2 2 3 2 3 2 7 14 15 29 1 1 1 1 The number of nameserver locations .IE – Dublin, Ireland 1 a.ns.ie b.ns.ie Netnod 81 c.ns.ie d.ns.ie CIRA 20 e.ns.ie BT – Dublin Ireland 1 g.ns.ie Afnic – Paris Region, France 1 h.ns.ie IPCOM Rcodezero 38 i.ns.ie Business Review IE Domain Registry CLG t/a .IE / Annual Report & Review 2023 15